Osky Openers To Van Der Wal, Agee, Van Dusseldorp, Cain and Hughes Following Rain Delay

After postponing a week due to unseasonable cold and a skiff of snow, the 2021 season opener at the Southern Iowa Speedway faced a different challenge on Wednesday. Spring-like showers that passed through Oskaloosa in the morning helped with track prep, but when a more substantial line built up just south and east of the speedway it likely left many people wondering if there was actually going to be races on this night. I was driving through the "lakes" from overtaxed storm drains as I left Mount Pleasant and I didn't drive out of the rain until I reached Ottumwa. just 25 miles south of the track and a primary area that the drivers and fans come from on Wednesday nights. Still there was a solid crowd on hand for opening night even though the car count may have been hampered by the iffy weather. And, even though the early radar showed that we should be home free come race time, a light shower midway through the heat races produced a twenty-seven minute delay in the action.

Seven Sprint Cars signed in although local favorite A.J. Johnson never made it to the speedway and they were the first of five features on the card. Pole-sitter Kelly Graham got the jump on perennial winner Jonathan Hughes at the drop of the green, but exiting turn four to complete the first lap Hughes sailed around the outside of Graham to take the lead.

The caution waved on lap three when the third-place car of Robert Bell slapped the turn one guardrail and while Graham tried to keep pace on the restart, Hughes would pull away for yet another win after completing a perfect season in 2020. Ben Woods took the third spot, Doug Sylvester was fourth and Lance Silvers completed the field.

A solid field of sixteen Sport Compacts lined up next for ten laps with pole-sitter Billy Cain getting out to the early lead. As Cain pulled away from a charging Clayton Webster, the battle for third was intense between James Haring, Lewie Winkelman and Trent Orwig and when Winkelman spun out of the pack in turn two after taking the white flag, a caution was thrown resulting in a green, white, checkers restart.

Webster tried to take advantage of this development looking for his second win of the week after topping the field at Eldon Saturday night, but Cain was able to ward him off to take the victory. Haring would finish in the third spot with Nathan Moody taking fourth. Kolby Sabin finished in the fifth spot holding off a hard charging Winkelman who passed several cars after restarting from the rear.

After taking several years off from racing to devote more time to family, Rick Van Dusseldorp returned to the Hobby Stock class a couple of years ago and he would have been the first to tell you that he was not as competitive as he used to be. That started to change midway through last year though and after winning on Saturday night in Eldon and again here tonight in Oskaloosa it is safe to say that Van Dusseldorp is back!

Yes, he started from the pole in tonight's fourteen lap finale, but he had strong competition knocking on his back door, literally, throughout the distance. Keaton Gordon twice had a run on the leader coming down the front stretch and as Van Dusseldorp came up the track there was some contact with both drivers doing a nice job of maintaining control. It was a great four car battle for the lead with Dustin Griffiths and Brad Stephens also involved, and when they closed in on slower traffic Stephens got shuffled out of the mix and spun on the wet grass at the bottom of turn three with four laps to go.

During the caution Gordon went to the work area to cool a hot motor and on the restart Griffiths made a couple of strong challenges that would come up short as Van Dusseldorp scored the win. Aaron Martin started seventh and finished third, Travis Bunnell was fourth and Tyler Graves held off Gordon for fifth.

Some of the best B-Modified drivers in the region were part of the twelve car field next to go racing with Blaine Webster leading the opening lap from the pole. Logan Anderson started fourth and was on the move driving past Webster on the second trip around "The Mahaska Monster" and he was able to open up a bit of an advantage. The man to beat here over the past few years though has been Curtis Van Der Wal and he was on the move after starting fifth.

With four laps remaining in this non-stop race Van Der Wal had caught Anderson and would show him a bumper on the outside in turns three and four. Then with Anderson aimed for the cushion into turn one Van Der Wal would dive to the bottom and pull off the perfect slider to take the lead and yet another win here at his hometown facility. Anderson would have to settle for second with Webster in third, Bristol winner Maguire DeJong finished fourth ahead of Tyler Heckart and defending All Iowa Points champion Brayton Carter.

The Stock Cars traditionally bring down the curtain each night at Osky and Dustin Griffiths would lead the way at the drop of the green. Impressive rookie Trenton Witt suffered mechanical issues in turn four requiring a caution on lap three and following the restart Derrick Agee would apply the pressure to Griffiths.

Agee would make the pass in turn four halfway through the sixteen lap affair and Griffiths would not give in staying right with the new leader. Jason McDaniel was trying to make it a three car battle for the lead until something let loose in his car and he spun in his own fluid exiting turn four. Amazingly after a brief look in the work area McDaniel would restart at the rear, but would then pull in after one lap under the green. 

Griffiths continued to try to regain his lead and as the checkered flag went into the air he would come up just a half car length short as Agee scored the win. Donnie Pearson was solid in third, Howard Gordon Jr. finished fourth and Nathan Wood filled out the top five.

Even with the rain delay we were on our way home before 10:30 and next week at the Southern Iowa Speedway the popcorn will be free! What better way to spend a Wednesday night in Iowa?

For more Positively Racing coverage from this event check in with Dick and Joyce as well as the Wisconsin based Super Fan Ed Reichert.

Quick Starts

The start of the 2021 racing season here in the mid-section of the country has been somewhat "stop and go" as the month of April has seen a shift to the colder side over the past two decades. While watching the morning weather on KCRG channel 9 out of Cedar Rapids last week.....by the way, I still can't watch an ABC station on high definition since Mediacom continues to fight with Tegna over channel 8. For crying out loud, just cut them loose and give me channel 9 in HD! But I digress....so the morning meteorologist pointed out that the last time a record high was registered during April in Cedar Rapids was back in 2003, but there have been twelve record lows established during the month since then.

That should come as no surprise to race fans and promoters who continue to see those cherished April race dates fall to the wayside due to cold and, or wet conditions. And it is no surprise to see several tracks now hold off until May to get the season going with more and more special events scheduled into the seemingly nicer Fall season.

Still, if you catch some good weather in March or April you usually see a full pit area and an eager crowd and that has been the case at several of the eight events that I have been able to attend thus far. The early season has also been good for several drivers who are getting out of the gate quickly and looking for that success to continue throughout 2021. Let's take a top ten or so look at six of the nine All Iowa Points divisions to see who is off to a quick start and I will highlight a few out of state drivers having early season success as well.

It should come as no surprise that one of the hottest drivers thus far is Dallon Murty. The defending All Iowa Points Stock Car champion kicked off the 2021 campaign in style taking the big money at Bristol and here in Iowa he has already won five times and finished second twice.

All Iowa Points

Stock Car Iowa

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Dallon Murty Chelsea 37

2 . Jay Schmidt Laurel 18

3 . Chanse Hollatz Clear Lake 16

4 . Devin Smith Lake City 16

5 . Travis Barker Sioux City 14

6 . Jeff Mueller Albion 13

7 . Damon Murty Chelsea 12

8 . John Oliver Jr. Danville 12

9 . Jason See Albia 11

10 . Jesse Owen Colona IL 11

Another driver with five wins already in 2021 is Jeff Larson. After placing in the top five of the All Iowa Modified Points each of the last two years could this be the season where "Bone" breaks through? Tim Ward was a surprise entry at Davenport a couple of weeks ago, so he is hitting the road early on and a nod also to Sioux City's Cody Thompson as the former Limited Modified champ has already posted three wins in his rookie season with the Mods.

All Iowa Points

Modified

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Jeff Larson Freeport IL 28

2 . Tim Ward Gilbert AZ 27

3 . Cayden Carter Oskaloosa 24

4 . Cody Thompson Sioux City 20

5 . Spencer Diercks Davenport 19

6 . Derrick Stewart Ainsworth 18

7 . Shane Demey Denison 17

8 . Troy Cordes Raymond 16

9 . Jacob Hobscheidt Plattsmouth NE 15

10 . Jordan Grabouski Beatrice NE 15

11 . Kyle Brown Kellogg 15

Young Kaden Reynolds has scored six Hobby Stock feature wins to start the season and may be headed toward an epic 2021 campaign. Just think, it was only a few short years ago when Kaden was battling with Dallon in the Micro Mods in Vinton every Sunday night.

All Iowa Points

Hobby Stock Iowa

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Kaden Reynolds Cedar Rapids 30

2 . Daniel Wauters Tipton 23

3 . Randy Lamar Buffalo 22

4 . Eric Knutson Slater 18

5 . Solomon Bennett Perry 18

6 . Luke Ramsey Bedford 17

7 . Tyler Schlumbohm Sioux Falls SD 15

8 . Dustin Gulbrandson Hartford SD 14

9 . Aaron Martin Richland 12

10 . Nathan Ballard Marengo 11

It's like old home week at the top of the Limited Modified standings where former champions Tony Olson and Tyler Soppe are currently tied for the lead. Twenty of Soppe's twenty-four points come from four feature wins.

All Iowa Points

Limited Modified Iowa

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Tony Olson Cedar Rapids 24

2 . Tyler Soppe Sherrill 24

3 . Jonathan Logue Logansport 22

4 . Brayton Carter Oskaloosa 20

5 . Austen Becerra Carthage IL 19

6 . Shane Paris Muscatine 17

7 . Ty Griffith Webster City 17

8 . Dan Hovden Decorah 15

9 . Austin Schrage Cresco 13

10 . Cam Reimers Kelley 13

11 . Jake Sachau Denison 13

His father Chris was the champion in 2020 and now Bryan Vannausdle is at the top of the early list of Four Cylinder drivers. He is joined by pavement convert Logan Clausen.

All Iowa Points

Four Cylinder Iowa

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Bryan Vannausdale Villisca 16

2 . Logan Clausen Atkins 16

3 . Chance Bailey Quincy IL 11

4 . Chris Vannausdle Villisca 10

5 . Cyle Hawkins Blue Grass 10

6 . Tyler Fiebelkorn Creston 10

7 . Jake Benischek Durant 9

8 . Zeke Wheeler Vinton 9

9 . Drake Bohlmeyer Beatrice NE 8

10 . Nick Proehl Milan IL 8

11 . Zach Bohlmeyer Beatrice NE 8

Two wins this past weekend has put Matt Ryan in a familiar position at the top of the All Iowa Late Model Points. Ryan is looking for his third straight and fourth overall title.

All Iowa Points

Late Model Iowa

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Matt Ryan Davenport 12

2 . Billy Moyer Batesville AR 11

3 . Eric Pollard Dubuque 11

4 . Jesse Sobbing Malvern 11

5 . Josh Leonard Gibbon NE 11

6 . Tony Jackson Jr. Lebanon MO 11

7 . Justin Kay Wheatland 10

8 . Sean Johnson Independence 10

9 . Jason Papich Arroyo Grande CA 9

10 . Andrew Kosiski Omaha NE 8

11 . Brian Shirley Chatham IL 8

12 . Denny Woodworth Mendon IL 8

13 . Jake Bridge Waverly NE 8

14 . Tad Pospisil Norfolk NE 8

Don't forget that you can always get the updated and full All Iowa Points for all nine divisions on the Points page at Positively Racing.

The driver who has scored the most points in our standardized system thus far is 305 Racesaver Sprint Car ace Marcus Thomas of Corsicana, Texas. Seven of his ten top-five finishes have been victories and his 42 points would have already ranked him in the top 30 in last year's Best of the Midwest standings.

Texas Points

Winged Sprint Cars

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Marcus Thomas Corsicana 42

2 . Austin Mundie Crandall 16

3 . J.J. Hickle Quilcene WA 14

4 . Jeff Emerson Millsap 12

5 . Channin Tankersley Highlands 10

6 . Blake Mallory Joshua 9

7 . Chad Wilson North Richland Hills 9

8 . Martin Edwards Forney 9

9 . Brad Sweet Grass Valley CA 8

10 . John Ricketts Burleson 8

11 . Kevin Ramey Fort Worth 8

Staying in Texas, Jared Maupin has been making a habit of posting two top-five finishes in the same night as he leads the Limited Mod standings and is third in the Modifieds.

Texas Points

Limited Modifieds

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Jared Maupin Collge Station 35

2 . G.W. Egbert IV Salado 22

3 . Jake Upchurch Grand Prairie 20

4 . Marcus Mikulencak Corpus Christi 19

5 . James Hanusch Belton 18

6 . Brandon Geurin Robinson 17

7 . Damon Hammond Burleson 17

8 . J.J. Jennings Corpus Christi 17

9 . Steven Ashcraft Forney 17

10 . Edward Oakes Cuero 16

Texas Points

Modified

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Chris Morris Taylor 32

2 . Jon White Red Oak 30

3 . Jared Maupin College Station 26

4 . William Gould Calera OK 22

5 . Kevin Green Waco 19

6 . Cody Leonard Sinton 17

7 . Jack Sartain Terrell 16

8 . Kale Westover Blair OK 16

9 . Clyde Dunn Jr. Rockwall 15

10 . Cody Tidwell Round Rock 15

Modified driver Jake Davis of Hackett, Arkansas, holds the early lead in Oklahoma where he has won three times and he has a win in his home state as well.

Oklahoma Points

Modified

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Jake Davis Hackett AR 19

2 . Brandon Dean Tulsa 13

3 . Jared Russell Wagoner 12

4 . Ho Dean Tulsa 10

5 . Jared Baird Norman 10

6 . Kale Westover Blair 10

7 . Collin Wiseley Bixby 8

8 . Ethan Braaksma Newton IA 8

9 . Brendon Gemmill Ponca City 7

10 . Brett Hansen Fort Gibson 7

11 . Chad Davis Tulsa 7

12 . David Tanner Wichita Falls TX 7

13 . Tim Ward Chandler AZ 7

Jordan Grabouski appears headed to another Nebraska State Points Modified championship after posting five early season victories. "Grabo" also has a win, a second and a third in the Stock Cars.

Nebraska Points

Modified

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Jordan Grabouski Beatrice 25

2 . Austin Svoboda David City 10

3 . Ryan Jenkins Omaha 8

4 . Cody Thompson Sioux City 7

5 . Dan Nelson Holmesville 7

6 . Justin Gregg Hastings 7

7 . Dillon Schultz 5

8 . Dylan Sillman Alvo 5

9 . Jacob Hobscheidt Plattsmouth NE 5

10 . Trey Duensing Byron 5

Temperatures have been in the 80's the past two days, perfect weather for racing but nothing on the schedule for a Monday or Tuesday in April. Hopefully the cold front and its scattered showers will miss the season opener at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa tomorrow night as that is my next destination. For the upcoming weekend I originally thought about a trip into Wisconsin to take in a couple of "new to me" tracks, but a change in my wife's plans will keep me closer to home and hopefully I can get to a show at one of the many great tracks around my southeast Iowa base.

The weather is bound to shape up soon, get out to a track of your choice!

Breakthrough Victory For Papich at 34's Slocum 50

The 13th Annual Slocum 50, racing in memory of Brent Slocum, will go down as one of the best yet with a big crowd, a full pit area, great racing and some generous fundraising. It truly was a "lucky 13"! And for California native Jason Papich, it will long be remembered as his breakthrough victory in the world of Super Late Model racing.

Promoters Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt are always quick to point out just how much help that they get from their staff and volunteers at 34 Raceway and many of them worked diligently overnight Friday and into Saturday to take a track that tore out more than what they had hoped for during The Prelude and turn it into a surface where the drivers could shine on Saturday. All of those people can now rest peacefully knowing that it was a job well done. Okay so maybe after a bit of celebration first!

You can tell that we were in for a better night tonight during the heat races as while the battle for the lead may not have been there in the "start the fast guys in front format", the racing for transfer spots was intense in all four heat races. And that would set the table for a terrific fifty lap feature where drivers were to find three or four effective grooves around the 3/8ths-mile oval.

I swear that I heard some people around me both cheer and boo Bobby Pierce during the course of this evening (see my story from The Prelude if you don't understand), but there was plenty of cheering going on as Pierce out dragged pole-sitter Garrett Alberson to take the early lead. The first caution waved on lap three when the fourth-place car of Terry Phillips slowed on the speedway and, on the restart, the now fourth-place car of Ryan Unzicker spun in the middle groove of turn one. The first half of the field would split him, but with Mason Oberkramer battling in the middle of a three-wide pack he had no place to go clipping the right front of Unizicker and ending the night for the former winner of this event.

Back to green and much of the large crowd appeared to be happy to see Pierce extend his lead as he was on a quest to win the Slocum for the third straight time. Californian Jason Papich had dropped Alberson to third and when Pierce started to work traffic, Papich quickly trimmed into his lead. Before he could get to Pierce though the caution would wave for debris in turn three on lap nineteen and that would be the final caution of this race.

With a clear track ahead Pierce would again pull away a bit from the pack, but as the crossed flags indicated lap twenty-five that lead would again start to shrink and this time it would have nothing to do with lapped traffic. Papich's low line was now faster than Bobby's rim ride and with Jason ready to pounce Pierce was motioned down to block on lap twenty-eight. That worked for a few laps and now current MLRA point leader Tony Jackson Jr. would make it a three car battle for the lead.

When Pierce pushed a bit in turn two, Papich pounced and would officially take the point on lap thirty-two. Now with Pierce and Jackson racing side-by-side for second, Papich was closing in on four cars racing for position at the rear of the field and when he was able to put Justin Duty as a lapped car between him and his challengers, this looked like it just might go his way.

With seven laps remaining Pierce went a bit too high into turn one slipping over the top of the banking and losing several positions in the recovery. This now allowed Jackson to focus on the leader, but after Papich was able to get by Chad Simpson with four to go that was all of the buffer that he would need to go on and win the $10,555 top prize with a fist pumping in jubilation as he drove under the checkers. Jackson would build on to his early point lead with a strong runner-up showing while Alberson was consistent in third. Veteran Billy Moyer closed out a solid week and will likely be ranked second in the series point standings should he choose to continue to chase another MLRA title and Chris Simpson had a strong showing in fifth. 

Ryan Gustin has to be thinking about what might have been this week after being disqualified out of a victory on Wednesday night and then getting upside down while racing for second last night. He recovered nicely though starting twelfth in the finale and finishing in sixth. Last night's dominating winner Brian Shirley was solid, but not a factor tonight racing in seventh, Pierce gained back a few spots late to finish in eighth, ninth went to Shannon Babb and Tyler Bruening improved seven positions to complete the top ten.

Jason Papich in action this past Wednesday night at Stuart - Barry Johnson photo

The 305 Winged Sprint Cars were much better behaved tonight with just one early caution. After losing one in the final laps last night, Cody Wehrle would walk away with the win tonight leaving all challengers in his wake driving the Grant Racing #27. Last night's winner Dan Keltner would ward off a mid-race challenge from Dugan Thye to finish second while Thye would wind up on the podium in third. Noah Samuel fought off the challenges from Devon Rouse to finish fourth.

The track appeared to now be locked down on the bottom so my expectations were not high for the final event of the night, the twenty lap IMCA Stock Car main event. Never count out this division though as they always seem to deliver great racing and those of us who were still around were treated to perhaps the best race of the weekend. Chad Krogmeier would come from the third starting spot to lead the opening lap only to leave the door open for the fifth starting David Brandies on lap two.

Brandies had done his homework while watching the Sprint Cars, he was hugging the bottom and using that rubber that had been laid down, but his challenger Corey Strothman decided to give the next line up the track a try. It worked!

Strothman would pull even with Brandies in turn four and then nose ahead at the line to lead for the first time on lap eight and Brandies was not about to let go of this one easily. The two leaders would race door-to-door over the next several laps with Strothman continuing to lead by a bumper as each lap went into the book. Plus, they had John Oliver Jr. right behind them first betting on Strothman, then on Brandies and then on Strothman.

A caution on lap thirteen would actually give Oliver the racing room that he was looking for on the Delaware double file restart and he would edge around Strothman exiting turn four to take the lead on lap fourteen. It was short lived though as Corey came charging back a lap later and this would continue like this to the checkers with Strothman taking the win over Brandies and Oliver. Abe Huls was close behind in fourth followed by yet another mid-race contender Jason Cook in fifth.

It was a great way to close out a memorable evening at 34 Raceway and a big thank you goes out to Brad, Jessi and the entire 34 Raceway team for all of your efforts!

After four straight nights of action here on the Back Stretch it will likely be another ten to thirteen days before I get back out to the track and right now I am looking at the possibility of hitting one or two tracks that I have not yet been to. Where might that be? 

Keep an eye out for me on the Back Stretch!

Slocum Prelude Is All Shirley's at 34 Raceway

Brian Shirley dominated the first ever Prelude to the Slocum on Friday night as he set quick time in the field of 41, won his heat race to start from the pole of the forty lap $5,000-to-win main event and then  was never challenged through that distance. That's not say there wasn't any drama behind him though!

Shirley's one moment of challenge actually came on lap thirteen when the soon to be lapped car of Jake Timm spun right in front of him in turn two. The leader was able to stand on the brakes and avoid contact. On the restart Shirley again had things well in hand with Billy Moyer trying his best to keep pace until the caution came out again with ten laps remaining. Mason Oberkramer and Dennis Erb Jr. had tangled on the front stretch sending Oberkramer spinning into the infield where he backed over one of the brand new sponsor billboards.

On this restart the crowd cheered as Bobby Pierce sailed around Moyer for second only to have the caution wave again on lap thirty-one when Rodney Sanders and four other drivers gathered in turn one. Once back to racing Shirley again left his competitors in his wake as Ryan Gustin joined the battle with Pierce and Moyer. With five to go Gustin charged to the inside of Pierce in turn three and completed the slide job to perfection to take second, but when Bobby tried to return the favor a lap later things did not go quite so well.

How you saw this incident might be effected by which driver you cheer for more and since I like them both I will just say that Bobby's slider required Ryan to hit the brakes and set his car sideways to keep from making contact and when he got sideways the right side wheels caught the cushion and caused Gustin to roll over one time. During the red flag Gustin walked over to Pierce's car on the back stretch to show his displeasure before Bobby drove around to the front stretch where he was greeted with a chorus of boos. Oh how fickle us race fans can be as just moments before he seemed to be a crowd favorite!

Once back to green Shirley put the final five dominating laps in the book to take the win followed by Pierce and Moyer. Tony Jackson Jr. started seventh and finished fourth while Frank Heckenast completed the top five. During the victory lane ceremonies, once announcer Billy Rock moved over to Pierce the crowd again jeered and heckled prompting Bobby to say "there must be a lot of Reaper fans here tonight". Then after a few more hecklers had their say he pointed out that none of them had ever driven a Late Model before and that they should come on down and see him. 

Some will find that kind of brash behavior unacceptable. Not me, I love it. This is what sells tickets and you will want to make sure that you are there tonight when the big money is on the line to see what happens!

Support class action had plenty of incidents to help make this a long night. The Sprint Car main event saw four cautions and two red flags in the first nine laps, but once they got it out of their system the final eleven laps was very entertaining. Defending track champion Cody Wehrle had marched to the front from his eighth starting spot taking the lead on lap four as leader Andy Huston slowed and pulled to the infield. In the final eleven lap segment Dugan Thye was the first to mount a challenge pulling to the push bar of Wehrle only to have the leader pull away. Meanwhile Dan Keltner had found a fast way around the top side and he was now coming fast after starting tenth. Keltner would take the lead as the white flag waved and when Wehrle tried to get it back on the final lap his car wheel hopped in turn three and the win would go to a jubilant Keltner. Wehrle was able to recover to hold on to second ahead of Daniel Bergquist and Dugan Thye while Noah Samuel filled out the top five.

The 305 Winged Sprints will be back in action tonight.

While most of the crowd was on their way home following the Late Model feature I stuck around to watch a couple of young men from my hometown compete in their first ever night of racing in the Mini Hauler Truck division. I have known Matt and Ryan Barton since they were kids and over the offseason they had decided to get into racing by purchasing a couple of the race trucks from the Fenton family. I could see the excitement in Ryan's eyes as he was preparing for the evening telling me that they hadn't even driven them down a gravel road yet.

Both Bartons were on the move early in their heat race and while Matt had some handling issues, Ryan went on to win the heat as if he had been racing for years. Come feature time Ryan lined up third and was definitely not shy as he worked his way to the front, but one lap after taking the lead on the fourth circuit he got too high exiting turn four and slapped the wall on the front stretch. Thinking that Barton would come across the track in front of him, the second place truck of Jerad Ruble turned sideways and he then collected Brian Tipps.

Barton restarted at the point but with a damaged right front he was not as fast as before and Tim Wagner was able to take the lead from him and the eventual victory. Ryan would finish second for a pretty impressive debut and another driver, Sheldon Brockett would have an interesting story to tell from his first night of racing. On the second lap Brockett got sideways off of turn four, overcorrected and tipped the truck over on its side. After a quick check by his crew Sheldon returned to the track and worked his way all the back up to third at the checkers. Ryan White and Tipps would complete the top five while Matt Barton would put a seventh place finish in his opening night scrapbook.

The IMCA Stock Cars will replace the trucks on tonight's card.

Tonight's the night, the 13th Annual Slocum 50 takes the green at 34 Raceway west of Burlington. Bundle up, bring a blanket and come on out for a great night of action!

Moyer A Popular Winner At Davenport

Even with most of their hands in gloves or mittens, the cheers were easily heard over the roaring motors as National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member Billy Moyer took the checkers as the Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models made their way to the Davenport Speedway Thursday night. A nice sized crowd given the chilly temperatures was on hand as the Drt Trak Racing team headed up by Bob Wagener presented an efficient four division program highlighted by a stellar field of forty Late Models.

If you have not been to the Davenport Speedway for awhile, let's just say that the racing surface of the quarter-mile has widened out at the same rate as my waistline over the past few years. And for those of you who used to go to the Kentucky Lake Speedway, remember how they liked to do a six-wide parade lap to show just how wide the track was? I am guessing that Davenport could do them one better with a seven-wide salute because I swear that on the opening lap of the Sport Mod main event they were RACING seven-wide through turn four.

Of course to do that they have extended the exit of turn four and the entrance to turn one out  by several feet virtually guaranteeing that the half-mile will not be used again, at least not without moving a lot of dirt again. That's okay though, as while I loved the big half-mile here back in my younger years, ever since I saw Ken Schrader put the #90 Red Baron's Pizza Late Model four-wide through turns one and two with three other IMCA Late Models during a Summer Series event here long ago, I have preferred the quarter and Thursday night was continued proof of that. 

Jason Papich and Billy Moyer would earn the front row for the forty lap Late Model feature and through the first thirty laps this one would be a testament to the track prep goal of having at least two equal lines around the speedway. Papich, the Californian who bases his two car team with Tony Toste out of Camdenton, Missouri, would go digging around the low line while Moyer showed his ever present skills riding the thin ridge around the top where one tiny mistake would send a driver over the banking.

The high line was quicker through turns one and two as Moyer would get out by two to three car lengths going down the back stretch, but that low line through three and four was tight and Papich would claw back enough to lead by inches at the stripe for the first seven laps. Well let's just say that I think he did as I was sitting about ten yards to the right of what I believed to be the stripe.

I had Moyer holding the lead on laps eight through fourteen and then thought Papich was again getting to the line first on laps fifteen and sixteen, but when the caution waved for Bobby Pierce who had slowed with a right rear tire down it would be Moyer that would be placed out front for the restart. Believe me, it was just that close each time the top two drivers crossed the stripe for those first sixteen laps and with the two lines between them at least seven car-widths apart even on the straightaway only the scorer would have a true perspective of just who had the lead,

By the way, Pierce had been running fourth at the time and instead of scrambling to come back out and rejoin the twenty-six car field from the back he decided to call it a night and get ready for two nights at 34 Raceway, a track that he absolutely loves given his recent success there.

Soon after the restart the cars of Mason Oberkramer and Shannon Babb got hooked together in turn one and Oberkramer was able to break free and return to the race while Babb stayed in the infield as the green light stayed on. The final caution of the event would fly on lap twenty-two when Jordan Yaggy spun in turn two and following the restart Moyer was now making it clear just exactly who was leading each lap as he started to inch away from Papich.

As the laps wound day Moyer's lead was nearly a full straightaway and with just four laps to go Papich's "stick man" frantically motioned for him to go to the top. He did so just in time as a hard charging Brian Shirley had to get on the binders to keep from spinning Papich at the top of turn two and the final four laps would fall away with Moyer taking the popular victory. I believe that I heard announcer Billy Rock state the the runner-up showing by Papich was the best of his career with the MLRA while Shirley finished where he started in third. Ashton Winger had another solid performance coming from tenth to fourth and he will now go to Burlington as the series point leader. Another Hall of Famer Terry Phillips finished in fifth.

Billy Moyer in action at Davenport - Photo courtesy of Dennis Krieger

Tuesday's winner at I-80 Tony Jackson Jr. had another tough night of qualifying events as he had to use a provisional for the second night in a row, but the Lebanon, Missouri, driver made the most of it as he raced his way from the twelfth row up to eighth. Now Jackson will go for the ultimate redemption this weekend at 34 Raceway where he appeared to have the 2020 Slocum 50 well in hand before mechanical issues took him out.

Wednesday's winner at Stuart Jesse Stovall started sixteenth and finished seventeenth while Ryan Gustin who was DQ'ed from a win at Stuart for an illegal suspension part qualified well, but then slipped off the top of the track early in his heat race and later pulled off choosing to put the car in the trailer for the rest of the night.

Thankfully on this night the three support divisions behaved nicely with the only caution during the three features coming when one of the American Iron Racing Series (AIRS) cars tired to get to the infield with a broken left front, but just couldn't make the turn quick enough. Brian Gade and everybody associated with the AIRS cars should take pride in what they have developed as these are some beautiful old race cars that are obviously not just doing this for show. They race, and on this night it would be R. J. Lank taking the win in a beautiful 1959 Edsel Ranger. He was followed by Tim Arp, Bart Miller, Ron Cook and Dan Kessler in the field of seventeen.

Lining up fifth in the fifteen lap Sport Mod feature Tyler Soppe apparently had 'em right where he wanted 'em as he charged to the lead going down the back stretch on the opening lap and then held off some early race challenges from Tony Olson to take the flag to flag win. Olson was the runner-up after starting third and wishing that he had not left the bottom open going into turn one the first time. Shane Paris recovered nicely from a disappointing DNF in Stuart the night before to run a strong third tonight. He had started ninth. Ben Chapman came from tenth to fourth and Justin Veloz moved from twelfth to fifth.

Spencer Diercks went to the top at the drop of the green flag and was never challenged in winning the non-stop twenty lap Modified feature. He also won the quickly organized Darkside promoted event here on April 3rd. Gilbert, Arizona, native Tim Ward made a rare appearance in the Quad Cities and moved from fifth to finish second, Jeff "Bone" Larson was third, Eric Barnes looked like he was driving a Show Car putting the pristine black and orange #1 sponsored by The Body Shop in fourth at the checkers while pole-sitter Brandt Cole faded to fifth.

A big thanks to Bob Wagener, Carrie Rouse and the entire Drt Trak team for putting on a quick show in less than ideal conditions. You can bet that it will be warmer for their next event to be held on Friday May14th when they bring back the MLRA Late Models to Davenport.

The five night MLRA Late Model swing to open their season closes out tonight and tomorrow night at one location, 34 Raceway west of Burlington, Iowa. Tonight will be the first "Prelude to the Slocum" with $5,000 going to the winner and then on Saturday it will be the 13th Annual Slocum 50 racing in memory of Brent Slocum featuring a $10,555 to prize. Hope to see you there!

Stovall Comes Up Short At The Checkers But Takes Biggest Check At Stuart's Pay Window

Usually it really bugs me when I leave a race track thinking that one driver won the feature only to find out later that someone else would be declared the winner due to issues in the post-race tech area. But on Wednesday night the Lucas Oil MLRA Late Model racing was so good at the Stuart Speedway even the disqualification of one of my favorite drivers to watch could not put a damper on the evening.

I will be the first to admit that I am a big fan of track owner/promoter Mike Van Genderen and I also understand that everybody in this business have people who do not like them for whatever reason that me be, real or perceived. To watch him in action on a night like this though just makes me wonder how you cannot be a fan of someone who hustles so much on a race night to give the drivers the best track possible for them to then perform for the fans. And believe me on this night the Late Models performed in thrilling fashion for a chilled crowd despite the "qualify and start the fast guys in front format".

It started in the heat races where drivers needed to finish in the top four to transfer for the main event. The first heat gave the impression that it would be a standard evening of follow the leader racing that this format so often spits out as Frank Heckenast Jr., Mason Oberkramer and Terry Phillips walked away and finished where they had started in first, second and third. Well behind them though defending MLRA champion Jeremiah Hurst was checking out the re-manicured topside and gradually picking up spots after starting eighth before passing Gary Brown Jr. in the final laps to take fourth.

The second heat race saw Chad Simpson take the lead from the outside of the front row and after Billy Moyer dropped pole-sitter Justin Duty to third the Hall of Famer went to the top to reel in the leader. Simpson was able to hold off Moyer to take the win, but it was close and "the stick men" must have taken notice when Moyer found speed up top as heats three and four were very entertaining with drivers running low, high and spaces in between around the quarter-mile oval.

Rookie-of-the-Year contender Jake Timm was even kicking off the outside universal barriers in turns one and two to propel himself form fourth to first and take the win in the third heat and the fourth heat race of the night was a great appetizer of things to come. Tuesday's winner at the I-80 Speedway in Nebraska, Tony Jackson Jr. had earned the pole position through time trials and he snared the early lead. Georgia's Ashton Winger immediately went to the cushion though and he would soon sail past Jackson, but soon after taking the lead he would drop back down to the low groove to shut the door on Jackson. Bad choice!

The high side was now the place to be and the leader of the cushion riders was fifth starting Jesse Stovall who would take the win over fourth starting Ryan Gustin. Rodney Sanders found the top groove late as well dropping Winger to fourth and sending Jackson to the B-Main. Now when was the last time that you saw that kind of movement in a heat race under this format?

After fading a spot or two in the opening laps of the B-Main, Jackson would pull to the infield and take his series provisional starting position for the feature while the sixth and final transfer spot would come right down to the checkers. Todd Cooney had started tenth and the cagey veteran was showing that the low groove would still work if you use it right making his way up to that sixth and final transfer position with just a handful of laps remaining. But Mitch McGrath was now mounting a comeback using the high line and when he showed his nose to Cooney coming to the white flag, Todd prepared his defense. 

Exiting turn four and charging to the checkers Cooney came up off the bottom and left McGrath as little room as possible between his car and the outside wall which the Wisconsin driver still tried to squeeze through. Contact would send Cooney into a spin just after the finish line and it required a check with the scorers to determine that he had held on by just inches to make the show. 

Before the Late Model feature would take the track though there would be main events to be run in two of the five weekly classes that were starting off their track point chases for 2021.

His mid-week performances here at Stuart helped propel Brayton Carter to the 2020 All Iowa Points championship and he picked up right where he left off passing early leader Brian Morris on lap five and then cruising to the Sport Mod feature win. Carter had also won the Frostbuster held here fifteen days ago so he is already two for two on the young season here at Stuart. Brett Vanderheiden had an impressive run coming from seventh to finish second  while Cam Reimers moved from sixth to third. Dusty Masolini started from the sixth row before finishing fourth and Garrett Nelson finished where he started in fifth. Eastern Iowa visitor Shane Paris was a contender early but as he went three-wide for the lead with Carter and Morris on an early restart, his left front gobbled up one of the infield track tires that just wouldn't let go until he had pulled to the infield.

Just like the Sport Mods, the Stock Cars had a few more cautions than we all wanted to see on a wind chilled evening, especially when it kept interrupting a very entertaining race up front. Bob Daniels was leading the way, digging around the bottom and was successfully holding back the father and son duo of Damon and Dallon Murty until the fifth caution of the race waved with three laps remaining. On the restart as Daniels crossed under the green flag a big plume of smoke and plenty of fluids came out of his car entering turn one sending the field, and our own photographer Barry Johnson who was stationed down in turn one scrambling, a tough way for Daniels to end his night as he just might have made it to the checkers without the cautions.

This would put Dallon Murty on the point for the restart and there would be no catching the defending All Iowa Points Stock Car champion as he too would score his second win for 2021 here at Stuart. Defending track champion Jeremy Gettler put on quite a show charging from sixteenth to second, Buck Schafroth was on the move as well coming from ninth to third, Texas visitor Michael Sheen faded a bit early before coming back to finish fourth while Damon Murty dropped from second to fifth in that final three lap segment.

The stage was now set for forty laps of Late Model action and fourth starting Jesse Stovall again showed his strength from earlier in the night by splitting the middle of Frank Heckenast Jr. and Jake Timm in turn two on the opening lap to take the lead. With Stovall stretching it out the battle for position behind him saw plenty of two and even three wide action until Blair Nothdurft went for a spin in turn three to produce the first caution on lap ten.

One lap after the restart Billy Moyer would get pinched down entering turn one sending the veteran for a rare spin and once back to racing Stovall again opened up a sizeable advantage over Heckenast and Timm. That lead would shrink quickly though once lapped traffic came into play and once his two challengers were on his tail, this one would get wild for a couple of laps. Working in traffic Heckenast would take the point on lap twenty-six only to have Stovall come storming back a lap later just before one of the lapped cars in the mix, Jeff Herzog slid to halt entering the top side of turn one. 

Just prior to that Ryan Gustin had reeled in the lead trio as well and on the restart he would ride the cushion into second with his sights set on the lead. Stovall was still working the bottom of the turns but then flaring out on the straights so once Gustin had his run he would dive under the leader entering turn one before drifting up and grabbing the cushion in turn two to launch him to the lead with ten laps remaining. Now in second, Stovall got his elbows up and was able to keep pace with the new leader, even pulling alongside of Gustin in the corners on a few occasions. After the white flag waved Stovall made one last run at Gustin exiting turn four bringing the crowd to its feet as Gustin would take the checkers and the apparent victory by just less than a car length over Stovall.

However, as we were driving home we were notified that Gustin had been disqualified for a rules infraction on his suspension thus giving the win to Jesse Stovall. Garrett Alberson would take the runner-up paycheck with Heckenast picking up third. Chris Simpson was the hard charger of the night moving from seventeenth to fourth while Jake Timm completed the revised top five.

A big thanks to Mike Van Genderen for the hospitality and for all of the efforts that he puts in every race night here at Stuart, or wherever you might find him putting on a show. With the final checkers falling on the Late Models at 10:20 we headed for the car and our near three hour drive home, but by the time that the rest of my crew had peeled off the layers of clothing and placed them in the trunk the Modified feature was completed with Californian Shane DeVolder taking the win. I understand that a hard crash at the start of the Sport Compact main brought the show to an end just ahead of an 11 p.m. curfew. Reports are that both drivers needed medical attention, but both escaped serious injury. The Sport Compact and Hobby Stock main events will be completed as part of next Wednesday's Jake Durbin Memorial here at the Stuart Speedway.

It was an added treat to share the booth with National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member Joe Kosiski who is well on his way to being nominated again, this time as a promoter at the I-80 Speedway between Lincoln and Omaha and the SLMR series that now has both an East and West Region. Sharing thoughts with Van Genderen, trading thoughts on different items with me and just discussing racing in general really cemented what I already knew about Joe. He is such a great ambassador of our sport on so many levels and interacting with him throughout the night made this night even more memorable for me!

Don't let the cool weather keep you home! Bundle up and get on out to the track of your choice this weekend and I hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch.

Shirley and Bollinger Take UMP Fall Nationals (In the Spring) At Lincoln

Last October the UMP Fall Nationals at the Lincoln Speedway in central Illinois battled inclement weather and eventually the Saturday night program was postponed to the Spring of 2021, Friday April 9th. And as it turned out this rescheduled event would wind up being one of the only events to escape inclement weather this weekend as nearly every other track was too wet from mid-week rains, or were looking at dire forecasts for Friday night and Saturday.

Frankly, this show was fortunate that those other races were canceled in a timely manner as the field of fifteen Super Late Models included at least four drivers who were originally headed to the Lucas Oil Raceway in Wheatland, Missouri, for the MLRA Spring Nationals and there were two of the track's best Pro/Crate Late Model cars on hand to boost the count.

I am assuming that it rained here during the week as well, but on Friday you could not ask for better weather for early April with sunny skies and a mild wind despite temperatures climbing into the 70's. It was a twelve degree increase from the start of my my two hour and forty-five minute trip to the east. The track was not rough, but I would describe it as "grabby" meaning that we saw several cars get on the bicycle entering the turns and it would send three of the four cylinder Hornet cars up and over, two of them in spectacular fashion. This was not caused by a lack of effort by the track crew though as they often took to the surface between races to keep it packed down smooth and wide and after the heat races an efficient run by the grader kept the surface smooth, but quite tacky.

"Grabby"

The thirty lap Super Late Model feature was third on the card, but since they were the headliners I will start there and this one would be a battle between front row starters Tanner English and Brian Shirley. Shirley would lead by a nose at the line for lap one and as their battle continued into turn one Dustin Vandermeier would somehow spin sideways down the front stretch. Jeb Simmons would take evasive action to keep from drilling Vandermeier, but his hard turn to the right would take him head on into the outside wall going into turn one and he would then roll over onto his top. Simmons would climb out uninjured, but he would be taking a destroyed race car back to his Wentzville, Missouri home.

Once back to green the battle between Shirley and English continued until lap ten when hometown favorite Myles Moos coasted to a halt with rear end damage. The final twenty laps would run under green flag conditions and with ten laps remaining English poked a nose under Shirley entering turn three. When the leader slammed the door English had to check up and that bobble would allow Shirley to get away to a half straightaway advantage, a lead that he would maintain to the checkers and a $3,000 top prize. English would finish in the second spot with Ryan Unzicker a distant third.

It was an odd night for Bobby Pierce. Coming off his first career World of Outlaws win last week at Farmer City, Pierce qualified seventh in his group of eight with Crate racer Jake Little even timing in faster than Pierce. He ran one lap of his heat race before pulling into the infield lining him up fifteenth in the main event and while he raced his way up to fourth at the checkers, it just didn't seem like a normal "Smooth Operator" performance. Jake Timm would round out the top five.

Ashton Winger was one of the last Late Models to arrive at the track and the young Georgian was running second in his heat race before spinning in turn four on the final lap collecting Timm. Winger would come out for the feature and take a few laps at the back before calling it a night.

The $1,500-to-win Modified feature was shaping up to be quite a battle before a couple of incidents eliminated some of the top contenders. The first two cautions were for debris as the twenty-one car field rocketed around the quick quarter-mile. On a lap four restart the third-place car of Allen Weisser bicycled entering turn one and after successfully bringing the car back down on all fours Weisser pulled off the back stretch and into the pit area.

Ray Bollinger was the leader at this point with Michael Long in hot pursuit and at the mid-race point of the twenty-five lap distance Long made a dive at Bollinger into turn three. The leader would have to move up a line to avoid contact, but he would maintain the point and on the following lap Ohio visitor Tim Monroe would spin in turn four right in front of the lead duo. Both Bollinger and Long were able to miss the stalled car and it would be the ensuing restart that would decide this one.

As the field raced off of turn two in tight formation, Long would slow suddenly causing both Kenny Wallace and Jeff Leka to crash hard into him midway down the back stretch. The right front would be sheared off of the #36 of Wallace and Leka's car would have to be taken off the fence before it could be towed back to the pit area, but both drivers were okay.

With Long, Wallace and Leka all out of the race, Bollinger would dominate the second half to take the win while Rick Conoyer and Tommy Sheppard Jr. traded the second spot over the final three laps and had a few words for each other after the entertaining battle that saw Conoyer take the runner-up cash. Defending track champion Brandon Roberts would finish fourth while Chris Morefield came from the tenth row to take fifth.

I would describe the twenty-lap Pro Modified feature as a victim of the UMP lineup format with the fast cars starting up front as the only change for position in the top five after the opening laps came when James Hileman jumped the cushion with four laps to go and dropped from third to fifth. Kevin Crowder would lead the entire distance that was stopped just once for debris on lap nine to take the win ahead of Kyle Helmick, Ryan Hamilton, Billy Knebel and Hileman.

With this event being one of the only ones to be able to go tonight there were several of our traveling friends there including my Positively Racing colleagues Danny Rosencrans and Ed Reichert so make sure that you check out their thoughts as well by clicking on their names. My favorite retired postal worker David Schlise and his crew from Wisconsin were also on hand and he convinced me to stay for the final race of the night, the fifteen lap Hornet feature rather than fighting much of the large crowd that had headed for the parking lot after the Late Models and David was right, it would be the best race of the night.

Tipton, Iowa's Josh Starr, the last driver to check in on the night, would lead the race throughout most of the distance with Kenny Butterfield and Erik Vanapledoorn in hot pursuit. As that lead trio worked traffic going down the back stretch on lap thirteen, Vanapledoorn was able to slip under Starr entering turn three but when he pushed up a bit in turn four, Butterfield seized the opportunity and took the lead under the waving green. That three car battle would continue over the final two laps with Butterfield taking the win over Vanapledoorn and Starr, but after the checkers Vanapledoorn would take a hard rollover in turn two. Thankfully he climbed out of the car unscathed, but I am sure that this just added to his frustration of coming up just shy of a victory on opening night.

Jay Mariuzza who we have seen a couple of times at East Moline finished in the fourth spot and Michael McKay was fifth. Earlier in the night Billy Mason launched his Hornet as high as I have ever seen one of these cars get as the track grabbed him entering turn one, but the safety equipment did its job and Mason waved to the crowd after getting out of the crumpled car.

I have been to the Lincoln Speedway before, but I did not remember a roof over two thirds of the large seating area and you just have to love the fairgrounds atmosphere where you pay from your car as you enter the facility. I will look forward to another trip here in the near future!

As we said our goodbyes many of the travelers were trying to figure out their destination for Saturday night and as I write this now it looks like Boone is their only remaining option. My next targets will be four nights of MLRA action in the state of Iowa next week with Wednesday at the Stuart Speedway, Thursday at the Davenport Speedway and Friday and Saturday at 34 Raceway for a two-day version of the Slocum 50. Hope to see you there!

  

Larson Take Two Grand At Benton County's Easter Frostbuster

What a difference four days can make when it comes to the weather here in eastern Iowa! Faced with high temperatures in the 40's and overcast skies for their second stop of the annual IMCA Frostbuster swing through Iowa on Wednesday April 1st, promoters Rick and Corey Dripps made the early call to postpone the event to Sunday April 4th. Yes, that would be Easter Sunday, and for most tracks that would have never worked, but as announcer Ryan Clark pointed out, Sunday night racing even on Easter has long been a tradition at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton and with temperatures pushing 80 degrees under sunny skies a large crowd gathered to watch what would now be the fourth and final Frostbuster race for 2021.

Even with the dramatically better weather, the car count was probably down from what it would have been on Wednesday, but that didn't matter to these race fans as there was a nice mix of local favorites with a few visitors mixed in for flavor. Even the Sport Compacts that were not officially one of the Frostbuster classes had a new name for many when Fairmont, Minnesota, driver R.J. Esqueda was the last driver to check in.

As is often the case this time of year, a forty degree warmup in four days was ushered in by a strong south wind that quickly dried out the track surface and sent the dust flying. I'm sure that it was not fun to be in the infield tower tonight, but those of us in the grandstands were kept clean as that wind whistled across from turns one and two to turns three and four. What was amazing though was how the track stayed multi-grooved and did not rubber up making for great racing throughout the evening. Corey and his crew paid extra attention to an area of new dirt that had been added during the offseason in turn one, but other than a couple of sprinkles around the top side during the evening, that was all of the "extra" work that was needed to give the drivers a track that they could get out and race on.

The IMCA Northern Sport Mod feature would be the first of five on the schedule with third starting Tony Olson leading the way on lap one. Pole-sitter Brandon Tharp would take the lead back on lap two and he would hug the bottom as he paced the field looking for what I believe would be his first Sport Mod feature win. Defending All Iowa Points champion Brayton Carter worked his way up from fifth to second, but at this point it looked like the dried out surface would give us a "Huggy Pole" parade as Carter and nearly everybody else settled in to running the bottom. 

With no cautions the laps clicked away quickly and as the leaders closed in on lapped traffic with three laps remaining, Carter moved up the track to give the higher line a try. There was not enough there to get by Tharp without some help, so Brayton tucked backed in line and waited until the lapped traffic came into play. The white flag waved and Tharp was now right on the back bumper of James Roose entering turn one. Carter would again go to the outside and with the lapped car causing Tharp to pause that was the break that Carter was looking for as he drove around both Tharp and Roose to take the lead and steal the win as he later told Clark win victory lane. "Without lapped traffic I was a second place car tonight." 

Tharp will get another shot at that first win when the regular season begins here on Sunday April 18th, but on this night he had to settle for second ahead of Tony Olson and Ben Chapman. Our 2020 Wisconsin state Limited Modified champion Jayden Schmidt would fill out the top five.

The Stock Cars were up next for fifteen laps and if anybody could prove that the top would still work it would be the father son duo of Damon and Dallon Murty, Dad is a three time All Iowa Points Stock Car champion and the winningest driver in Benton County Speedway history while young Dallon is the defending All Iowa Points champ after edging out his father in 2020 and they recently dominated the division at the Bristol Dirt Nationals.

For this fifteen lap event Damon would start fourth with Dallon lined up eighth and it would be pole-sitter Kevin Rose leading the way for the first five circuits. As Jay Schmidt applied the pressure to Rose, Dallon Murty was now finding a line around the top and was steadily picking off positions entering the top five as Schmidt was able to get under Rose for the lead on lap six. This one went green to checkers as well and that was a good thing for Schmidt as Murty was closing fast moving to second with just a couple of laps remaining.

Damon would slip off the top side of turn three with just two laps to go and it would have been real easy for him to stop and draw a caution, but instead he kept it moving and rejoined the field just ahead of the white flag for Schmidt. A few more laps and this would have been a barn burner, but Schmidt would get to the checkers first to score the win over Dallon Murty and Rose. Fifth row starters Shawn Ritter and Jason Doyle would complete the top five and it was an impressive showing for Doyle who has raced in the Sport Mod class the past several seasons.

With a top prize of $2,000 on the line for the IMCA Modifieds the field was stout with Wisconsin's Lucas Lamberies and Illinois veteran Jeff Larson drawing the front row. Lamberies who I believe won a Sport Mod Frostbuster here a few years back would pace the opening lap only to have Larson glide by on the outside to lead lap two. The first feature caution of the night would wave on lap six when Jed Freiburger tangled with another car and spun in turn three and on the restart Cayden Cater would take up the chase of Larson from second.

It was truly a chase though as Larson gradually pulled away only to have his lead erased with eight laps remaining when Dylan Thornton slipped off the top of turn three. The young California driver who spent most of 2020 racing here in Iowa due to Covid restrictions out west is reportedly relocating to Iowa soon and on this night he was driving the #19 normally wheeled by Jimmy Gustin.

On the restart Carter threw a slider at the leader entering turn one, but Larson calmly crossed him over to retain the lead down the back stretch as Richie Gustin pulled even with Carter racing for second. With those two now engaged in battle Larson would again pull away to score a convincing win here at "the Bullring". Carter would ward off Gustin to take the second spot, Saturday night's winner at Boone Ethan Braaksma would charge from eleventh to fourth while Joel Rust finished where he started in fifth.

After just two cautions in 55 laps of feature racing the twenty-one car field of Sport Compacts could only complete one lap at a time through the first five laps and on lap ten the red flag was needed when Tyler Haring went for a tumble in turn two. Instead of running the remaining five laps as scheduled, this one would now be a green, white, checkers restart with race long leader Logan Clausson scoring the win in his sharp looking red #10. Normally a threat to win on Friday nights at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, Clausson used his pavement experience to perfection on the wind dried surface to take the win in only his second time on dirt. Ashley Reuman steadily worked her way up from tenth to second and I am sure that she would have liked to test that higher line for five more laps instead of two. James Haring would finish in the third spot, fourth went to Chris Claypoole and defending track champion William Michel battled his way back to fifth after causing the second caution of the event.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks would close out the evening for fifteen laps and when the front row of Russ Olson and Jackson Vsetecka left the bottom open for Kaden Reynolds it was pretty much all over except for the shouting. Luke Ramsey had made the long trip up from Bedford and he would get to the back bumper of the leader mid-race, but with Reynolds glued to the bottom he would have to try something as the white flag waved. Rather than jumping to the top Ramsey tried to enter just one car width higher than the leader and when that didn't work the win was Reynold's, his second of the weekend after also tasting victory at Marshalltown on Friday night. I would think that Ramsey's runner-up finish would secure him the Frostbuster title as Aaron Martin, Nathan Ballard and Brett Vanous filled out the top five.

The sun was just starting to set and at 7:35 p.m. the show was complete allowing all of us to get an early start on the drive home. A big thank you to Rick and Corey Dripps and their entire staff for the hospitality and for all the work that they have put in over the past week just to put this show on. You can bet that it will draw many fans, including me, back to the Benton County Bullring often on Sunday nights in 2021.

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Our trip to Vinton made it two nights of racing in a row after our Saturday at the Omaha zoo followed by racing at the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Nebraska. My Positively Racing colleague Ed Reichert has a full rundown of the action here in One Fan's Travels so I will just touch on a couple of items. As expected this was a well run show starting right on time at 6 p.m. and we were on our way back to the hotel just past nine o'clock allowing me to catch the spectacular finish of the Final Four matchup between Gonzaga and UCLA.

I had expected The Zags to deliver a beat down on the Bruins, but the only blowouts I saw on this night came in the Modified and Late Model features at I-80. Jordan Grabouski was in a class all his own winning the Modified main event by nearly a half lap over Mike Densberger and that was after a caution had bunched the field with sixteen laps remaining.

Andrew Kosiski would give the family #53 a ride to remember in the SLMR West series feature that closed out the evening as he started from the pole and was never even threatened in a non-stop thirty-five lapper.

In between those two, the Malvern Bank 360 Sprint Car feature had an interesting ending as Terry McCarl held a big lead on a track that had taken rubber in the middle groove. However, with six laps to go McCarl closed in on the slower cars of Monte Ferriera and Brendan Mullen and that allowed both Chris Martin and Jason Martin to close in quickly. With two laps to go as McCarl took a look to the inside entering turn three Ferriera pinched him down and that was all that both of the Martin's needed get past the leader. Chris Martin who was the leader for the first eight circuits before McCarl had put the slider on him would go on to take the win with Jason Martin close behind.

Promoter Joe Kosiski has put together one of the most aggressive schedules in dirt track racing for 2021, including the Silver Dollar Nationals week that now features five nights of action. Don't be surprised to see me out west again later this season.

Looking to the week ahead, the wait for some suspension parts for my car will keep me relatively close to home with the hopes of being at the Davenport Speedway on Thursday night as the Drt Trk Promotions crew welcomes in the Hoker Trucking SLMR East Series. On Friday night promoters Brian and Marcie Gaylord have an interesting menu for race fans as the SLMR Late Models will make their debut at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson with both the 410 Winged Sprint Cars and the D-2 Midgets also on the card. Then on Saturday night the 410's will be sanctioned by both the IRA and the MOWA series at 34 Raceway west of Burlington while the Sport Mods and Stock Cars will run in support.

Racing season is here! Get out and support the track of your choice and we will see you back here again soon on the Back Stretch.

Cha Cha Cha Changes

Just over a week ago I wrote about my race plans for the next two weeks and let's just say that the weather made everyone of those plans go by the wayside. So it is time to make some Changes!

First of all a correction from last week's Notebook. The #50K that Kyle Bellm drove to victory at Poplar Bluff was not the Midland Performance car owned by Burlington's Scott Bonar, but it was a car that did have some ties to Midland. I ran into Matt Rogerson at The Som in Burlington on Wednesday night, a great place to eat and drink if you are in town for one of the many specials this season at 34 Raceway, and he told me that the car is owned by someone out of Sikeston, Missouri, who had purchased some items from Midland and that the tail tank was from the Midland 50 team. So once again proving that Midland Performance in Burlington keeps open wheel racing alive throughout our region!

After both Memphis and LaSalle were forced to cancel last weekend, my sights were set on the first three Frostbusters and the USMTS vs. UMP challenge at 34 Raceway to make it a five race swing! Word came on Sunday though that the track at 34 Raceway would not yet be ready for racing on April 2nd and 3rd so that event was then moved to the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City leaving me with nothing within a three hour drive to go to on Saturday......at least at that time.

Tuesday's weather looked brutal at Stuart so I chose to stay home and watch it from the comfort of my own home since my first month of XR was still active from my purchase of Bristol. As always the action at Stuart was fantastic highlighted by Cayden Carter executing a perfect slider on Clay Money in turns three and four of the final lap to take the Modified feature win.

Wednesday's Frostbuster at Vinton was moved to Sunday April 4th, and the cold temperatures were just too much for the Independence Motor Speedway to hold their race on Thursday so that event was canceled. As all of this played out mid-week I checked the special events Calendar at Positively Racing and after seeing the weather forecast for the weekend in Omaha I hatched my plan to lure my wife into going to Saturday night's race at the I-80 Speedway featuring the Malvern Bank SLMR Late Models and the Malvern Bank 360 Sprint Cars by telling her that we will spend the day at the zoo before going to the track.

My wife will agree to almost anything if a trip to the zoo is included.

Since I will have the IMCA Frostbuster at Marshalltown to watch later with my Floracing subscription we will instead make the trip to Omaha this evening with a stop at my favorite pizza place, Zipp's Pizzaria in Adair for dinner before staying in Omaha to get an early start at the zoo. 

Zipp says that we need to try the Crab Rangoon (pictured) and the Reuben pizza

Just as they did last November when the weather forecast was favorable, the Darkside boys Timmy Current and Ryan Duhme have quickly put together a night of racing at the Davenport Speedway for this Saturday April 3rd. Had I not already hatched the Zoo and I-80 plan I would have been headed for Davenport, but as it turns out this race will also be streamed live on XR so I will still be able to watch the rebroadcast of it at a later time!

Gotta love all of these subscription service Pay Per Views, you can go eat pizza or visit another track that isn't on your subscription and still not miss a thing!

My ultimate goal is to be able to get to the Benton County Speedway on Sunday night for their rescheduled Frostbuster, but someone has already made it clear that I will first have to return some precious cargo to Mt. Pleasant before being able to do that as there is no zoo in or around Vinton.

The weather looks great for this weekend so get out to a track of your choice and let's get the 2021 season underway in earnest! I have big plans for next week as well, but for now I am going to keep them to myself so that I don't have to explain any cha cha cha changes here on the Back Stretch.